Today in Trump‘s America: Cohen testimony edition

You didn’t have to see every minute of Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony today to acknowledge it was some of the best political theater in many years. You might also think it was damnably condemnatory of his former boss, Donald Trump, who he called a racist, and a con man, and a cheat…which are things many Americans already believed about their president, but still: Cohen’s lied to Congress before and that needs to be kept in mind:

I know it's the last best option, but it still amazes me that "This guy who was my personal fixer until less than a year ago is an obvious criminal liar!" is the line that's supposed to clear up all these scandals

Fact is, wasn’t so long ago that many Republicans stood by Cohen’s word…although he was saying other words at the time:

A liar. A cheat. A conman. Americans are right to ask — who was Cohen talking about? Himself or the president? After all only Cohen has been convicted. OTOH GOP is foolish in its speed to impugn the witness to forget that he did all of those things working FOR the president.

There was one difference today: Cohen was a liar…who brought some evidence:

Yes, it's clear #MichaelCohen lied in the past, but to the extent that he presents hard evidence, the committee must take it seriously. If the norms of behavior had been followed by anyone in this sordid situation, we wouldn't be here today. #MichaelCohenTestimony

I was wondering how it was ethical for a lawyer to provide this kind of testimony against a client, but I didn’t know this:

There *is* an exception to attorney-client privilege, though rarely enforced because of the burden of proof to get there: If the attorney and client are engaged together in conduct that is itself a crime.

Cohen is admitting to such activities, so he's not breaking the privilege.

So for my quick review: the Republicans didn’t cover themselves in glory today:

The Republicans are yelling, the Dems and Cohen are calm. This isn't about the substance of things, but the dramatic overall impression is that the Republicans are defensive, furious and also their hair is on fire.

…even if Trump supporters want to ignore the documentary evidence (like the GOP members did):

The worst "take" is this doesn't matter cause it won't change anyone's mind. This is unprecedented, stunning evidence for which we know there's corroboration that Trump has consistently lied and committed financial crimes. AND all one party can do is defend him. THIS is historic.

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One thought on “Today in Trump‘s America: Cohen testimony edition”

So where’s the beef? Having a jerk call Trump names is not new. It’s every show on CNN/MSNBC since mid-2016.

How can anyone take this hate kabuki seriously?

The important takeaway? Here’s a guy who’s clearly out to get Trump (and to soften his landing in prison and/or lay the groundwork for a book deal) and even HE says there’s no evidence of Russian collusion.

What is all the investigation about? That Trump slept with some hot porn stars and amply compensated them for it? Big whoop!